Monday, August 24, 2015

1889 - IF Jewel Ens was born in St. Louis. He played for the Pirates from 1922-25, hitting .290 as a seldom used bench player. Jewel came back to manage the club from 1929-31, and put up an overall 176-167 slate, finishing second once.

Jewel Ens, cover boy for June, 1925's Baseball Magazine

1928 - The Pirates romped over the NY Giants 16-5 at Forbes Field. The middle of the Pittsburgh order - Paul Waner, George Grantham and Pie Traynor - pounded out seven hits, including a homer and three triples, drove in 11 runs and scored six more. Every Pirate position player had at least two hits as the Bucs banged out 19 knocks.

1956 - The Cards defeated the Pirates‚ 6-2 at Busch Stadium in a game notable for its batting order. Manager Bobby Bragan batted the pitcher seventh, Maz eighth and Hank Foiles ninth. Mazeroski went 1-for-3 while Foiles hit a HR. The pitcher, Fred Waters, went 0-for-3.

1959 - Bob Friend gave up 12 hits‚ but shut out SF‚ 6-0. He struck out eight and stranded a dozen G-Men at Forbes Field, backed by a pair of Rocky Nelson homers.

1965 - The Pirates defeated the SF Giants 5-2 at Forbes Field behind Don Cardwell’s five hitter. It was a nondescript win except for Willie Mays, who according to Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press “...made an almost unbelievable throw...Mays took Donn Clendenon’s shot off the wall in left center (at the 406’ mark) and threw a strike to home plate on one bounce as the startled (Willie) Stargell was out by 15 feet.” Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle called it “...the greatest throw ever made in ancient Forbes Field.”

Don Cardwell 1963 Topps series

1978 - The Pirates won their 10th game in a row by dropping the Braves 5-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Bert Blyleven not only pitched his way to victory, but his two-out, bases loaded double in the seventh cleared the sacks to break a 0-0 tie. Pittsburgh dropped the next two games, then started a fresh 11 game winning streak.

1984 - Jose DeLeon went into the seventh against the Reds pitching a no-hitter, but lost it and the game when ex-Buc Dave Parker singled in a run to give Cincy the lead and eventual 2-0 win at TRS behind a three-hitter by Jeff Russell. Parker had the only Red hit; Cincy scored thanks to a walk and two errors.

1987 - Peter Gammon wrote in Sports Illustrated that GM Syd Thrift called a team meeting for his young and underachieving Pirate club (53-71) and asked the team to set goals. Reliever Jim Gott suggested aiming for 25 wins in the final 38 games. “Be realistic,” Thrift replied. It ended up that Gott was indeed a bit unrealistic - the team won 27 down the stretch, starting a seven game winning streak that night with a 5-4 win over the Reds. Gott earned the save.

Jim Gott 1995 Fleer series

1989 - The Pirates dropped the Houston Astros 3-2 in 14 frames at TRS. Doug Drabek tossed a nine-inning two hitter, but gave up two unearned runs on three Bucco errors. Doug Bair got the win when Jose Lind’s sac fly brought home Gary Redus.

2007 - The Pirates’ Xavier Nady hit a two out homer to tie the game in the ninth and then the Bucs erupted for five 15th inning runs to take an 8-3 victory from the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Adam LaRoche’s three run shot in the 15th off Travis Driskill was the big blow. Shane Youman picked up the win after two innings of scoreless relief with four K against Houston. Six Pirate relievers tossed eight shutout frames, giving up just six hits and striking out eight

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